Y&R Toronto’s creative team just got bigger with today’s announcement of four new hires – two of whom hail from CCO Israel Diaz’s old stomping grounds, Leo Burnett.

Marcia Thompson (pictured) joins the agency as VP, director of project management, with a mandate of strengthening Y&R’s project management system. Prior to this, she was Leo Burnett’s head of project management, and spent more than eight years with the agency. She’s also held positions at Dentsu Canada, Anderson DDB and BBDO.

The digital team gets a boost with the appointment of David Chant as director of digital production. Chant, who has spent the past five years operating his own digital production company, will work in tandem with Rob Gee, director of creative technology, to oversee all aspects of digital production. He previously worked at MacLaren McCann.

Ariel Pagliuso comes on board as senior designer, after positions at Leo Burnett and Downtown Partners. Further bolstering Y&R’s digital expertise, Pagliuso has designed award-winning websites for Kellogg’s, Sobeys and Budweiser.

And finally, after two years at Rethink Communications Vancouver, Natee Likitsuwankool, originally from Thailand, has relocated once more to become Y&R Toronto’s new art director.

“We’ve been creating a different kind of agency culture here at Y&R – one that thrives on both groundbreaking ideas themselves and also our ability to bring those ideas to life,”  says Diaz. “Marcia, David, Ariel and Natee are filled with the creative resourcefulness and energy required to help us accomplish our goals.”